Tag attaching apparatus



. Sept. 17, 1963 A. R. BONE 3,103,666

TAG ATTACHING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 28, 1961 j /jf 6/7 1/ 3 Sheets-Sheet l a? 16 M17 if G @0 3 JV 4% J INVENTOR.

ARNOLD R. BONE HTTYYS Sept. 17, 1963 A. R. BONE 3, 03,666

TAG ATTACHING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 28, 1961 3 Sheets-$heet 2 Sept. 17, 1963 A. R. BONE 3,103,666

TAG ATTACHING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 28, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I'I'I'II III/li United States Patent Ofiice 3,103,666 Patented Sept. 17, 1963 3,103,666 TAG ATTACHIING APPARATUS Arnold R. Bone, Needharn, Mass, assignor to Dennison Manufacturing Company, Framingham, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Dec. 28, 1961, Ser. No. 162,66 6 Claims. (Cl. 1-301) This invention relates to bar-lock tag attachments, more particularly to such an assembly of those attachments as will permit the attachments to be applied by automatically fed apparatus, and to such apparatus.

In conventional forms of bar-lock tag attachments for fastening price tags to fabrics, such as the types in which an elongate string loop is closed by a transverse rolled metal bar, there exists an appreciable problem in handling. The strings tend to tangle and there is no convenient method for handling the attachments in an automatic tag attaching machine. Further, such previously known bar-lock attachments have been relatively expensive and this cost has severely limited their use.

An improved attachment comprises a series of barlocks molded in a strip of plastic material, each bar-lock comprising a bar, a button and, joining the bar and button, a filament of the plastic material, the bar-locks being integrally joined at their respective bars. This improved attachment is described and claimed in copending application of Francis Gerard Merser Serial No. 153,154, filed November 17, 1961, which is a division of Serial No. 119,919, filed June 27, 1961, the latter having been abandoned.

Objects of the present invention are to provide apparatus for attaching bar-locks of the aforesaid improved type which will quickly and easily attach tags to fabrics wherever desired, which will automatically feed tag attachments into position to be applied and which is itself relatively inexpensive.

The invention involves apparatus for applying such attachments, which appartaus includes a hollow needle elongately slotted along one side, and a plunger for driving the bar of an attachment through the needle with its filament projecting through the slot. In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus includes also, means for feeding an assembly of attachments so that the bars of adjacent attachments are brought successively into register with one end of the needle and means for severing successive attachments from the assembly.

For purposes of illustration preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in the accompanying drawings in Which- FIG. 1 is a plan view of a bar-lock attachment;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of the method of applying a bar-lock attachment to fasten a tag to a fabric;

FIG. 3 shows a tag held to a fabric by a bar-lock attachment;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a plural assembly of bar-lock attachments;

FIG. 5 is an edge view of the assembly;

FIG. 6 is a side view of tag attaching appartus;

FIG. 7 is a view like FIG. 6 to larger scale with parts removed;

FIG. 8 is a section on the line 8-8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a section through a die; and

FIG. 11 is a plan view of one-half of a two-part die.

In FIG. 1 there is shown a single bar-lock tag attachment according to the invention. This attachment is an integral structure having a transverse bar 11 and a button 13 which are joined by a single filament 15. The attachment is preferably made of a plastically flexible material such as nylon and the filament 15 is made as thin as possible consistent with the strength of the material used. The button 13 is merely a means for preventing a tag from sliding off the filament 15 and may be of any convenient shape, here shown as a flat disk.

The attachment may be applied, as shown in FIG. 2, by means of a hollow needle 20 which is elongately slotted along one side. The needle 26 is first inserted through the opening 22 in a tag 24 and through the weave of the fabric 26 to which the tag is to be attached. Then the bar 11 of the attachment is driven, as for example by the apparatus described hereinafter, through the needle 20 with the filament 15 extending through the needles slotted side. As the attachment proceeds through the tag 24 and the fabric 26, the filament 15 will be bent back parallel the bar 11 as shown in the drawing so as to permit the passage of the attachment.

After the bar 11 is completely ejected from the needle 20, the needle may withdraw leaving the bar on the opposite side of the fabric 26 from the tag 24. The bar will tend to assume the position shown in FIG. 3 and will thereby prevent the withdrawal of the attachment, the tag in turn beingheld by the button 13.

In FIGS. 4 and 5 there is shown a plural assembly of attachments of the type shown in FIG. 1 which is adapted for use in an automatically fed tag attaching machine. This assembly, too, is an integral structure and is formed, for example, by injection into the two-piece mold shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. The mold is conventional having an injection port 101 and dividing on the line 102 into two similar halves 104 and 165 for the removal of a completed assembly 39. The assembly includes a plurality of individual attachments 30 each of which has a bar 31, a button 32 and a filament 33. Each of the attachments 30 is joined with an assembly rod 35 by a neck 36. Preferably, each neck includes a relatively thin portion 37 immediately adjacent the corresponding bar 31 so that the individual attachments may be easily severed from the assembly.

In FIGS. 6-9 there is shown a preferred embodiment of a hand held apparatus for attaching tags to fabrics using the bar-lock attachment of FIGS. 1 to 5. The apparatus is built around a two-part frame or handle 40 and an operating lever 42. The operating lever 42 is pivoted to the frame 40 at 54. The frame itself is divided longitudinally and in FIG. 7 one of the 'halves has been removed to reveal the operating parts. An assembly of bar-lock attachments such as that shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 may be fed into the apparatus from its top, the assembly rod 35 entering the aperture 44 with the filaments 33 projecting through the slot 36'.

Successive attachments 30 are fed into position with their respective bars 31 in register with the needle 38 by the gear wheel 50 which engages the necks 36. This gear wheel is journaled into the frame 40 by the pin 52 and is arranged so as to be rotated by the release stroke of the operating lever 42. A spring steel tape is connected to the operating lever 42 by the fitment 62 and extends through a curved slot 64 in the frame 40 to the gear wheel 50. The steel tape 60 approaches the gear Wheel 50 at a tangent so that as [the operating lever 42 swings away from the frame 40, that is, in a clockwise direction as seen in the drawings, the gear wheel is pushed by the tape in a counterclockwise direction. A second flat steel tape 66, also fitting in a corresponding slot 68 in the framing but restrained from sliding by the pin 7 0, prevents the gear wheel from rotating in a clockwise direction When the tape 69 is withdrawn. For permitting the selective removal of an assembly from the apparatus there is provided a release 72 having an oblique terminal portion 74. The release '72 runs in the slot 68 parallel to the fixed tape 66 but engages the pin 70 with a slot so as to permit a limited vertical movement. When the release 72 is moved to its lower position (as shown in dot dash lines in FIG. 2), the oblique portion 74 defleets both tapes 66 and 60 out of engagement with the teeth of the gear wheel 50 so that an assembly of barlock attachments may be easily withdrawn.

With an attachment in proper position the apparatus may be operated in the manner discussed with reference to FIGS. 1-3 by squeezing the operating lever 42 towards the frame 40. The first part of the movement of the operating lever 42 will cause, by means of the engagement of the pin 78 in the slot 80, a slight rotation of the knife 82 about its pivot 84. Because of the cam shape of the slot 80 further movement of the operating lever 42 will not cause further movement of the knife 82. The short movement is, however, suflicient to cause the knife to sever the attachment 30 from the assembly rod 35 at the thin portion 37 of the neck 36 (FIG. 9).

For projecting the bar 31 of an attachment 30 through the elongately slotted needle 38, there is provided a plunger 86 having a thin driving rod 88. This plunger is propelled by a flexible steel tape 90 which is connected to the operating lever 42 near its outer end by the fitment 92. This tape 90 is arched in transverse section so as to be able to withstand compressive stress without buckling and its longitudinal movement is brought into alignment with the plungers travel by rolling over the pulley 94 which is journaled in the frame 40 by the pin 96. The inner surface 95 of the flame 40 counteracts any tendency for the tape to arch away from the pulley. A coaxial return spring 98 is provided for returnig the parts to their original position, this return movement being that which advances the attachment assembly 30 into the apparatus as discussed hereinbefore.

It should be understood that this disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that the invention includes all modifications and equivalents falling within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for attaching tags to fabrics with a barlock attachment, said apparatus being adapted for utilizing plural assemblies of bar-lock attachments and comprising a hollow needle elongately slotted along one side, a plunger for driving the bar of a bar-lock attachment through said needle with the filament of the attachment projectingthrough the slot, feeding means for bringing each of an assembly of barlock attachments into register with one end of said needle, knife means for severing an attachment which is in register with said needle from an assembly of attachments, and handle means for supporting said needle, said handle means including means :for operating said feeding means, said knife means and said plunger in sequence.

2. Apparatus for attaching tags to fabrics with a barlock attachment and adapted for utilizing plural assemblies of bar-lock attachments in which the individual at- Itachments are secured by a short neck to an assembly rod, said apparatus comprising 'a hollow needle elongately slotted along one side, a plunger for driving the bar of a bar-lock attachment through said needle with the filament of the attachment projecting through the slot, gear wheel means for bringing the lock bars of successive attachments into register with one end of said needle, said gear wheel means including teeth for engaging said necks, knife means for severing an attachment which is in register with said needle from an assembly of attachments, handle means for supporting said needle, and an operating lever pivoted to said handle means, said handle means including means responsive to the movement of said operating lever for operating said knife means, said plunger, and said gear wheel means in sequence.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 in which said knife means is pivoted to said handle means and includes a cam slot and in which said operating lever includes a pin engageable with said cam slot whereby movement of said operating lever produces a short movement of said knife means sufficient to sever an attachment from a plural assembly of attachments.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2 including an elongate flexible tape one end of which is attached to the operating lever near its free end and the other end of which is attached to said plunger, and guide means in said handle means for directing the longitudinal movement of said tape so that movement of said operating lever towards said handle means causes said tape to operate said plunger.

5. Apparatus according to claim 2 and further comprising an elongate flexible tape one end of which is fastened to said operating lever adjacent its pivot, said handle means including guide means for causing the other end of said tape to approach said gear wheel means at a tangent whereby movement of said operating lever away from said handle means causes the rotation of said gear References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,854,647 Flood Apr. 19, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS 23,801 Great Britain Jan. 28, 1893 of 1892 

1. APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING TAGS TO FABRICS WITH A BARLOCK ATTACHMENT, SAID APPARATUS BEING ADAPTED FOR UTILIZING PLURAL ASSEMBLIES OF BAR-LOCK ATTACHMENTS AND COMPRISING A HOLLOW NEEDLE ELONGATELY SLOTTED ALONG ONE SIDE, A PLUNGER FOR DRIVING THE BAR OF A BAR-LOCK ATTACHMENT THROUGH SAID NEEDLE WITH THE FILAMENT OF THE ATTACHMENT PROJECTING THROUGH THE SLOT, FEEDING MEANS FOR BRINGING EACH OF AN ASSEMBLY OF BAR-LOCK ATTACHMENTS INTO REGISTER WITH ONE END OF SAID NEEDLE, KNIFE MEANS FOR SERVING AN ATTACHMENT WHICH IS IN REGISTER WITH SAID NEEDLE FROM AN ASSEMBLY OF ATTACHMENTS, AND HANDLE MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID NEEDLE, SAID HANDLE MEANS INCLUDING MEANS FOR OPERATING SAID FEEDING MEANS, SAID KNIFE MEANS AND SAID PLUNGER IN SEQUENCE. 